Cats Open Up High On Pre-Season AP Poll
Updated: Oct 19, 2022
As we are officially three weeks away from the start of the 2022-23 NCAA basketball season, the Associated Press has released their pre-season edition of their rankings. Kentucky, who returns six scholarship players, added a pair of five-star recruits and brought in the leading scorer from the transfer portal this off-season, will start the year off ranked at #4.
The Cats trail only North Carolina, who lost in last year's National Championship game and returned four of five starters, Gonzaga, who is returning Wooden Award finalist Drew Timme, among many other key rotation players, and Houston who is also returning their main core which has seen an Elite 8 appearance in consecutive seasons. Kentucky is also the top ranked SEC team in the poll with Arkansas (10), Tennessee (11), Auburn (15) and Alabama (20) just behind. The five SEC teams in the poll are more than any other conference, except the Big 12, who also have five.
In case you weren't convinced before, the AP Poll is further indication that Kentucky will have one of their most difficult schedules in a long time. The Cats will play:
2. Gonzaga (Road)
5. Kansas (Home)
8. UCLA (Neutral) 10. Arkansas (Home and Away)
11. Tennessee (Home and Away)
15. Auburn (Home)
20. Alabama (Road)
22. Michigan (Home)
Kentucky will have no shortage of opportunities to prove themselves of that top 4 ranking and go into the NCAA Tournament with a #1 next to their name.
The full AP Ranking is as follows:
North Carolina
Gonzaga
Houston
Kentucky
Baylor
Kansas (Tied for 5)
Duke
UCLA
Creighton
Arkansas
Tennessee
Texas
Indiana
TCU
Auburn
Villanova
Arizona
Virginia
San Diego State
Alabama
Oregon
Michigan
Illinois
Dayton
Texas Tech